Author's Note:

I've read your reviews, and I appreciate all of them! After going through the chapters one more time I realized that the quality of the prologue was slightly less than what it should have been. That was in part my fault for not being super confident in what I wanted to do but I also don't have a proofreader to double check me. I'll be more thorough about that in the future.

I don't normally respond to reviews in the author's notes as I prefer to show improvement in my work instead. However, I read a review that went over Yes Man's betrayal and it was relatively interesting. I had to go research it myself to see if I had made a grave error. In reviewing details, websites, and forums I've concluded I have not. I can't go into detail on why I've decided this but I'm hoping to write it in later. Thank you for your review Ediros, it was fun researching this!

I also appreciate the positive feedback from everyone. You were all very kind and I even got a very nice review from AnIndulgentFellow. I agree a Joshua Graham story would be amazing.

Now that you've all listened to me ramble, enjoy the story!

Update: Changed a few details in this chapter. Nothing major.

"Text/messaging"

"Speech"

Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, RWBY, or any associated characters.

Remnants of a Courier

Chapter 2: In the Middle of Nowhere

This was not an ideal situation. Six didn't recognize any of these continents on the map. The Wastelander was glad he was wearing a helmet as the alarm on his face would have been apparent to Richter and Carmine. He needed to change his plans drastically if he planned on returning to the Mojave anytime soon.

These maps didn't make any sense. North America, Africa, Australia, none of the continents were listed on this map. Instead, it looked like the world was split into six instead of seven continents. He knew the world hadn't changed that much.

Were the maps faulty? Maybe he was in a town where they had false maps to keep people in? But he was recognizing some of the names on the map. Carmine had referenced Vale earlier so he knew which continent he was on if this map was true.

The two other people in the room gave him odd looks as he stood there in silence. "Joshua, are you ok?" Carmine's question snapped him out of his inner thoughts. He wasn't sure how to reply but he needed an answer.

"I'm fine," the Courier lied as he pulled the map away from his face. "Just figuring out where I am and where I'm going to go." He found himself on the map as the scroll had a GPS like his Pip-Boy. The town he was in was small enough that it didn't even appear on the map.

It was like he wasn't anywhere on Earth anymore. The continents were different, the countries were different, Grimm were apparently common, and none of it made sense.

He needed time to figure out what he was going to do. A little more urgent than his map problem was that he needed a place to sleep. He could wander into the wilderness and find a sort-of-safe spot to rest but he'd rather avoid his days of sleeping on the ground.

There was a long silence between the trio as the Courier went back to the scroll and began fiddling with it. "You look a little wrapped up with the map," the older man said as he watched the heavily armed man look at his scroll with uncomfortable intensity.

"Just a little unsure of where I'm going to be sleeping tonight," Joshua replied lowering the scroll again. He'd put it away, he didn't want them to think he was too unstable. "Plus, I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. I'm currently…" He paused for a few moments searching for the right words. "In-between jobs."

Richter sighed while stroking his chin. "I suppose we can house you, no sense letting you boil away in the heat."

The Courier didn't think it was that hot but he was also used to the Mojave heat. He'd strangle the life out of the next NCR trooper that said, "patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter."

Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure what the season was. Joshua just knew that it wasn't winter or fall. If he had to guess, he would say late spring or early summer.

He was tempted to look back down at the scroll and see what season it was but he didn't want to be rude to his hosts.

"If you have a place for me to sleep, I'd appreciate it," Six replied figuring he could use a place to rest and get useful information from the locals. "It doesn't have to be anything fancy."

"That's good because we don't get guests often," the older gentlemen replied as he pointed towards the other room. "Carmine, would you please show our guest to his room?"

The girl nodded her head before turning to Six and saying, "this way." She turned on her heel and led him to another room. This one looked like it was a small kitchen with a counter in the center. They lived in a rather small house but compared to the Mojave it was quite nice.

Now that he thought about it, the Courier realized that the inside was air-conditioned. There were very few buildings in the Mojave that had air conditioning and most of them were on the Strip.

Carmine led Joshua to a smaller door to the left of what looked like their bathroom. "This is it," the girl said as she opened the door.

Six could immediately tell that this room was unused and not meant for a guest bedroom. It was tight, cramped, and looked more like a closet than a full room. It had room for a chair, a bed, and a desk. It was enough for the Courier.

Then the girl leaned over and sniffed him. "You should take a bath. You really stink." The girl's words made the Courier realize that he probably did stink. From being in the radioactive wasteland and traveling so much he had to stink.

"Fair enough," Six replied as he set his revolver on the desk then turned back to the girl. Perhaps leaving a loaded gun out for her to mess with was not a good idea. He grabbed the weapon before dematerializing it.

The girl's eyes went wide as she watched him. "What was that?" Her question made Six realize what he had just done. It was likely that the people here had never seen a Pip-Boy and now he was going to have to come up with something to tell her.

"It's a feature my Pip-Boy has. Helps me carry stuff, I'd get into the specifics but it's really complicated." He hoped his answer was enough to dissuade her from asking more questions.

From the look on her face, the Courier guessed it wasn't. "Fine, I know enough for now but I want to know later," the girl replied before pinching her nose. "But first go take a bath."

Joshua rolled his eyed under his helmet before replying, "right, right. I'll be right back." He moved out of the room and headed towards their bathroom.

It was small only containing the essentials. They apparently had water to pour into a bath if they wanted which spoke volumes as to the levels of radiation in the area. If Joshua didn't know any better, he'd say that he was the most irradiated thing in this place.

He closed and locked the door behind him before searching through their cabinets. The Courier was looking for any sort of medication for pain. His implants and modifications dulled the ache but getting your arm munched on still hurt.

He began reading some of the prescription names and realized that it wasn't written in English. Now that he thought about it, the map hadn't been either, the Courier had just been too distracted by the map itself to read the fine print.

The absurdity of his situation set in when he realized he could read it anyways. To the more perceptive person, one could have seen the pupil and iris of his eye shifting in his socket. The modifications the Think Tank had installed worked wonders for him. He didn't personally recognize the language but his eye was feeding the information on each bottle to the modifications in his brain.

From what he understood, the Think Tank had made a number of important modifications to his eyes that enhanced not only his physical attributes but his mental ones as well. He could see in dim light, his eyes had a zoom function, and it allowed information to be taken in by the enhancements in his head.

Said enhancements streamlined information to his brain and could kick the analytical part of it into high gear. This allowed him to process stimulus and information at an accelerated pace that would be impossible for ordinary humans. Add on that he had been one of the more intelligent men in the Mojave to begin with and there was little the Courier couldn't figure out given time. Many would consider the human brain to be an organic machine. All the Think Tank did was turn that saying more literal.

Or at least, Six would have thought that, if not for one tiny fact. The Think Tank had removed his brain and the thing formed its own consciousness separate from him. From what he understood, the machinery and mesh that had replaced his brain was supposed to be receiving signals that formed his consciousness. If he understood it right, it was like a remote control car but for his body. And the consciousness his brain formed was the subconscious manifesting.

But that... That also didn't make sense here. He shouldn't, couldn't... How was he so far away yet not just brain dead? What kind of monstrous freak could survive without that? Was it back inside? Did the Transportalponder do something to him? Was he even him anymore? Or some facsimile of Courier Six? Did he undergo something similar to when Benny shot him in the head? Another ego death? Would he even know? If he didn't have a brain, how were the implants still working? Was he even human?

The Courier took a stuttering breath in. Now was not the time to panic. He had to keep it together long enough to assess his surroundings and safety first. All of these questions didn't matter as long as he was alive.

Turning back to the bottle, he couldn't make out every single word on the bottle but he could make out a good portion. It was like having a computer in your brain that helped process information.

He didn't have all the information but he could understand enough for now and given time he could get a far more in-depth understanding. He could read every few words on the bottle and even then, he didn't fully understand what the words meant. He'd have to acquire reading material to further analyze the language.

What was truly strange was that the spoken language was English but the written language was one he didn't recognize. That didn't make any sense, if your first spoken language was English then you could write in it or at least some of it. Why bother learning English but use an entirely different language?

He stopped analyzing the medicine and let his mind and enhancements have a break. Now that he thought about it, without a brain how were his modifications increasing his mental capacity? What was there to increase? Unfortunately, he couldn't go rooting around in his own head to find out. At least not until he got back to the Think Tank.

The Courier let out a sigh before dematerializing his armor and gear. Joshua wished that he had all his gear from the Mojave. He had wanted to travel light but it had ended up backfiring on him now.

He avoided looking at himself for now as he rummaged through their limited supply of medicine. He normally wouldn't stoop to stealing unless he was desperate but they wouldn't miss a pill or two and he needed pain relief now.

A bit of searching later and he found some pain relief medication. After downing the pills, he finally glanced at himself. It wasn't a very pretty sight.

Scars ran along his pale skin ranging from small and shallow to long and wide. Most would have questioned how he stayed so pale in the Mojave but the answer was quite simple. He wore armor that covered most of his body and face at almost all times. The sun barely met his skin as he traveled across the Mojave.

That didn't even touch on the subject of what covered his body. There was a layer of blood, dirt, and sand that covered a good portion of him. He needed to start taking better care of himself.

His hand idly ran along the medical scar across his chest where the auto-doc had removed his heart. Then his eyes wandered up. And he forced them back down. He just couldn't do it right now. Six couldn't look himself in the eyes and see the damage he'd been through. Not with recent events anyways.

He didn't even want to think about where the auto-doc had cut to remove his brain. He wouldn't, not right now.

Of course, that wasn't the only change that had been made to him. Replaced skeletal structure in places, fake lungs, fake heart; Hell, he was more machine than man now. And since it was all internal, it was hard for people to even realize how different he was. Even the changes to his eyes were relatively hard to spot unless you were staring him in the face. The green irises did a good job of hiding the slight irregularities in his eyes that indicated they had been modified. It was only when his eyes began shifting and he was using certain functions attached to his orbs that his changes became more apparent. Subsequently, his eyes were the only part of his face revealed in some of his sets of armor.

Now that he was feeling a bit better he moved over towards the bath. They had enough running water for a shower, again that was strange. Of course, everything about this place had been strange so far.

He heard a sharp knock come from the door before the voice of Richter said, "don't use up all of the warm water. The heater can't keep up so make sure to take a short shower."

So, they were getting their warm water from a boiler, or a heater depending on the region. He idly wondered if there was a well nearby that they drew from as he turned the water on. It had been… Well, it had been a while since he had taken a proper shower.

Showers were a rarity in the Mojave and even the Lucky 38 had a limited supply of water. It just meant he rarely took showers and even when he did they were under five minutes. He'd give himself a good ten minutes in this shower.

Stepping out of the shower felt good. The blood and dirt were gone and he probably didn't smell as bad. He had used some random soap he had found in the shower which he hoped they wouldn't mind. It was meant to smell like wood so he figured it was probably Richter's. He also had to wash the blood down the drain that hadn't quite flowed away when he was taking a shower.

It didn't take him long to get dry and then he had to decide on what to wear. As long as it covered most of his body, he didn't mind. He had never liked revealing his face and body because of the scarring plus it meant that he could keep his identity hidden and become anyone anywhere if need be.

He had only brought three outfits with him as he planned to travel the divide. His elite riot gear, the Burned Man's outfit, and the Stealth Suit Mk II. The last piece of gear was one of his personal favorites. It helped him avoid fights and the functionality of the suit was surpassed by none when it came to stealth. The only real downside was the SINK-like personality installed in the suit.

The SINK personalities were interesting to say the least. They ranged from vain light-switches to raging toasters. To his knowledge they weren't true AI, they were closer to a virtual intelligence or a program that closely mimicked intelligence. The personalities could crunch numbers, do tasks, and act human but they weren't truly intelligent and self-aware.

He assumed that the feminine personality installed into the suit functioned the same. He could probably disable her if he wanted but there was a part of him that was slightly attached to the personality. That and it would take up time and energy he could spend figuring out where he was.

After he finished ruminating, he decided to go with the Burned Man's armor. It would be a little less intimidating, cover him up, and still provide some protection if he was attacked.

The act of wrapping the bandages around his head always took time but was also a calming process. This was what Graham did every day in great pain. While the Burned Man did it out of necessity, he did it to hide his shame. The thought brought a frown to Six's face.

He stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed and refreshed. It was a nice change of pace not to worry about what was happening in the Mojave.

The thought of the Strip and the Mojave brought another frown to his face. He needed to get back. There were still a lot of issues he needed to sort out on the Strip.

In order to do that, he'd need to figure out what exactly had happened with the Transportalponder to get him here. Most of the parts for it were fried and he'd have to get to work repairing it. He didn't have the materials or the tools to fix it here.

Another problem he'd have to figure out would be how the damn thing truly worked. He understood the fundamentals, but only the Think Tank knew it inside and out, and they could barely string a few sentences together without getting distracted.

"Joshua," Carmine said as she approached him. She stopped before sniffing a few times and saying, "you smell like papa."

At least that confirmed what the Courier assumed. "Yeah, there wasn't a whole lot of soap for me to use in the shower. Hope he doesn't mind." He wasn't too worried about it however, Richter seemed like a reasonable man.

The girl nodded her head but didn't respond. She turned away and seemed to be thinking about something as she stared out the window. It was apparent to Joshua that she had some social anxieties around the people of the town. If he had to guess, she was somewhat scared of him but felt less awkward around him instead of her own neighbors.

The girl then turned to him and gave him a good long look. "Your outfit is weird," she said while raising a brow.

Six in response shrugged before replying, "just what I feel comfortable in."

"Why do you cover your face," Carmine asked slightly tilting her head to the side.

The question itself was more complicated than the girl knew. He didn't want to go in depth on his scars and where he got them. "Because I like to," he said giving her an evasive response.

The smile under his bandages didn't go unnoticed by the girl and the slight pout on her face only made his grin grow wider. Then she looked a little closer at his face before saying, "why do your eyes look so weird?"

The grin instantly disappeared as Six turned his eyes away from the girl. "They just are, helps me see in the dark." He hadn't expected her to look him dead in the eyes like that and immediately see through him. Children were annoying.

"So, your eyes are like a Faunus'?" The girl's question caused him to look back at her with a raised brow. He had no idea what a Faunus was but if whatever they were could see in the dark it peaked his interest.

"I guess," he answered in an unsure tone. This caused the girl to give him a strange look.

"How do you not know what a Faunus is," she asked while walking past him and towards the door to their house.

It wasn't his fault the Transportalponder broke but Six couldn't tell the girl that. "Haven't run into any." His answer was truthful even if he was withholding information.

The girl turned back to him as she reached down and put her shoes on. "That's weird, they're uncommon around here but even we have a few Faunus in town." Her words got him thinking about whatever these Faunus were.

Perhaps they were some kind of mutant from the radiation? An animal or even a person that could see in low-light areas? That didn't make complete sense because of the local fauna. The Courier doubted if the bombs had even hit this area of the world. Well, whatever world this proved to be.

Another problem he'd have to figure out later tonight when he had some free time. The geography was all wrong and the fact he knew next to nothing about the local area unnerved him. They treated the world as if the bombs had never fallen which made him suspicious.

"I'm going to take you on a tour through the town," the girl spoke as she finished putting her shoes on. It was less of a request and more of a statement. The Courier could tell there was no option but to go with her.

He sighed and shrugged his shoulders letting her know he'd join her. She grabbed her hoodie and opened the door while saying, "we'll go to the market first. It's the busiest part of town."

The Courier pulled out the scroll given to him by Carmine and Richter before opening it. The holographic display was a tad strange to the Courier but he was quickly getting used to it. He was more worried about how fragile the thing looked. Six assumed that if he dropped the thing it would break, unlike his sturdy Pip-Boy.

He needed a few questions answered as they walked towards the town. Local history of the area and an answer to what a Faunus is would be a good place to start. He was also curious how they had internet going at all. He had never seen any system this advanced and had only heard about some of the pre-war stuff. Hell, this even outclassed most of the pre-war stuff he heard of too.

Navigating the "web" was rather strange as well. He could input any question into the search engine and get several results. He had first looked up Faunus, which were apparently some kind of mutated people that took on animal-like traits.

He shook his head for a moment. Six kept forgetting that the rules of the Wasteland didn't apply to wherever he was right now. It was hard to believe that he could possibly be on a different planet. Everything in his mind told him that it was ridiculous.

His mind told him that he could just be reading false maps or that they were all just very confused but the Scroll and the maps told him otherwise.

Then he caught the word—or rather name—Remnant. He followed the link to another page which told him about the world of Remnant. He was definitely not on Earth anymore if what this article said was true.

The world of Remnant, which looked nothing like Earth and had Grimm. A world that had never bombed itself into the apocalypse.

He continued scrolling and read about the apparently half destroyed moon as well. At least the physics worked the same, wherever he was at. Mostly because the moon and its debris follow an asynchronous orbit.

"This town isn't old, it's just small." Carmine's words jostled Six out of his thoughts. "Most of the towns around here aren't very old because they're destroyed by Grimm."

Maybe the Grimm were a bigger threat than he initially thought. "How long have you lived here?" He was somewhat curious but the question was meant to distract her from the fact he was using his Scroll.

The girl tapped her chin a few times as Six looked back down at his device. There were so many questions he wanted to ask about this world and his Scroll could answer a lot of them.

"Most of my life, I don't remember when mama and papa moved here because I was too young. Whenever I ask why they decided to live here, Papa says that the capital was too crowded." Carmine's words caused the Courier to nod. He could understand the sentiment that a big city had too many people.

He stayed on the Strip because he had to run it but if Joshua was honest with himself he preferred roaming. Crowded areas were a bother, too many people and eyes staring at him.

"I can agree with that," the Courier began as he closed his scroll. He figured he'd give her his undivided attention for now. He could research this world later. "Big cities look pretty on the outside but get old once you're in them."

Carmine turned to him before responding, "you've been to big cities?" She paused before turning to him and continuing, "what cities have you been to?"

The Courier's mind ran on overdrive as he tried to think of a good way to weasel his way out of this. "I've been to a place far away from here," he began before taking a few steps past her. "It's a land that's unforgiving and harsh called the Mojave. In the Mojave is a place called the Strip, a city in a desolate wasteland."

The girl followed along behind him as he spoke, "it's a city where the strong survive and the weak perish." He paused as they passed by two parents with their child enjoying the spring or summer day. He still didn't know what season it was. "It's nothing like this place."

"It doesn't sound like a place I'd want to visit." The girl didn't realize how true her words were. The Courier had no doubt that if Carmine found her way to the Mojave that it would eat her alive.

The two approached what looked like the market Carmine had mentioned. It was a busy area, bustling by this town's standards. There were small stands that were peddling their goods ranging from food to simple weaponry. Some were advertisements for shops in town although Six didn't see the point in it. The town was small enough that each shop probably had little to no competition.

"The Mojave isn't a place most people want to visit," Joshua replied as he stopped before turning to her. He had given her some truthful information on where he came from but she didn't know exactly how far away the Mojave really was. He'd keep it that way. "I assume this is the market?"

The pensive look on the girl's face seemed to disappear as he brought up the market. "This is it," she confirmed as she stepped ahead of him. "This is where papa comes to buy groceries."

"Didn't think they'd sell weap-" Six's words died in his throat as he spotted one for the first time, a Faunus. It was a different sight, not too outrageous compared to what he had seen but it was enough to make him do a double take.

She looked mostly human but the strange tall ears attached to her head set her apart. If he had to place it, the Courier would bet that they looked like bat ears. His mind was already processing the implications of having such physical changes. Perhaps she could use echolocation or was her hearing far superior to a human's?

He snapped his head away from her when he realized he had been staring. Carmine was looking up at him with a brow raised.

"Are you ok? You looked like you were staring at something." Carmine punctuated her words by turning her head to try and find whatever it was he had been staring at.

While she looked for the Faunus he had been looking at, Six noticed something else. The people in the market were starting to look their way. He had expected to attract attention but what he hadn't expected was for Carmine to attract some as well.

It didn't take long for the red-headed girl to notice people staring. As soon as she noticed, Carmine seemed to clam up and lost the confidence she was showing. It was obvious she was uncomfortable now but why were they looking at her?

For now, they should move on. "Hey what's the next spot you wanted to show me," Six asked while moving himself in-between their eyes and her.

Not being able to see them seemed to put the girl somewhat at ease as she responded, "I was going to show you the jail. It's where bad people are put… And drunk people."

"Where is it," Six asked not truly caring about where their jail was. He just wanted to get Carmine away from the crowd.

The red-headed girl paused for a moment while she took in a few deep breaths. Once she had composed herself, she looked back up at him before saying, "it's this way."

It was obvious she was hiding her fears and how bad she felt but Six wasn't going to press it. She was trying to keep a strong face in front of him and he didn't want to address that in front of a crowd. He wouldn't let her appear weak in front of the common rabble of this town.

He had seen it many times before. People were either afraid, ashamed, or both of a single person and shunned them. They acted passive-aggressively and did everything in their power to hurt that individual indirectly. He hated those people.

The Courier was led on in silence for a while as he allowed her to compose herself. She could take all the time she needed, he was nothing if not a patient man.

The girl's hand shot out and pointed at a building on their left as she came to a stop. "That's it." Her words were less enthusiastic now and she spoke less. It was obvious she was being affected by what happened later.

The Courier's eyes glanced upwards as he stared off into the sky. It was starting to get a little darker in the town. Perhaps he'd get a good look at that shattered moon tonight. For now, he was going to have to do something about her current attitude. He couldn't leave her sad like that.

Joshua stepped forward before kneeling down next to the girl. At first, she seemed to tense up at his close proximity to her but after a few moments, she glanced at him.

"Hey, don't worry about them. They're acting ignorant. Besides…" Six let his sentence trail off as he finally got the girl to look him in the eyes. "You shouldn't concern yourself with the opinions of livestock." It wasn't long or the perfect way to comfort her but it was short and to the point.

Carmine looked him dead in the eyes and remained silent after his statement. The awkward silence continued for a bit before she finally spoke, "what?" That single word said by her proved to the Courier that she at least wasn't sad anymore.

She began chuckling before continuing, "what does that mean? They're not animals. They're people." At least she wasn't sad anymore.

In response, the Courier shrugged before standing back up. "Feeling a bit better?" He may have brushed it off like it meant nothing by asking a question but he meant what he had said. He gave two shits about the opinions of almost everyone here and everyone in the Mojave.

Most people couldn't fend for themselves and had to rely on others to survive. They traveled in packs like herd animals that are meant to be grazed upon. The Courier was not so helpless and he couldn't care less about the opinions of those that relied on others.

"Yep," Carmine replied as she gave him a smile. "This is the jail where people who do dumb things have to stay."

Six smirked under his bandages as he replied, "I assume you've never been in there right?"

"Nope!" She paused for a moment as she looked out at the sun. "It's getting a little dark and I need to check on papa. I can give you the rest of the tour tomorrow but we should head home now."

"Sounds like a plan," the Courier responded as he followed her lead once more.

It wasn't a long walk and soon they were back at the Spring homestead. The two entered the house and Six watched as the girl ran towards the living room while yelling, "Papa, we're home!"

Joshua couldn't make out what they were saying as he adjusted the straps on his body armor before entering the room.

"Joshua," Richter greeted as the armored Wastelander entered the room.

"Mr. Spring," Six replied as he came to a stop. "Your daughter was showing me around town but we saw it was getting dark and decided to return."

"That's good, what did you show him little Lake?" The older man's words were spoken with a much softer tone for his daughter than him though that was to be expected.

Joshua tuned both of them out at Richter's words. The girl was going over today's events with him and he was more interested in the scroll he currently possessed. There was so much to learn about this world and he had so much time to do it.

"Joshua." Richter's words jostled Six out of his thoughts as he turned back to the man. It looked like Carmine had left the room. "I told her she could go and get a book from the store nearby while you were daydreaming."

The Courier didn't miss the teasing tone in his voice. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude." He hoped his apology sounded sincere as he was a little embarrassed that he had been caught in the act.

"I know you didn't. Just wanted to have your attention," the older man replied as he tapped his cane. "I need to address something while she's not here."

The tone in the man's voice had shifted from teasing to serious and Six knew something was bothering the girl's father. "So far, you've only done right by my daughter, I appreciate that. However, she's still young and tired of living in this small town and that makes her quick to trust strangers."

Joshua knew where this was going. He had heard this kind of speech before. People were nervous around others who just happened to be traveling nearby and were willing to help.

"But I've noticed the way you carry yourself," Richter continued as his tapping intensified against his cane. It was obvious he was nervous around the Courier. "You always hide your face, you keep your guard up and a weapon ready at all times, you were covered in blood when I first met you, and you project this air of oppressiveness."

Six hadn't heard the last one before. What did that even mean? He had heard he projected authority and strength but never "oppressiveness." He was slightly insulted but Joshua had been called worse and he'd get over this.

"That's why I'm worried for my girl. You're not a simple courier and she doesn't need to get herself into trouble. Bad enough that…" The crippled man let his words trail off as a frown creased his face. "Bad enough she's already had to go through a lot. She doesn't need you putting her through more."

Richter sat up in his chair and did his best to glare at Six from his sitting position. "So, I'll only give you this warning once, you ever do anything to hurt Carmine and I'll make sure that the Grimm are the least of your worries." The crippled man's words would have been more threatening if he wasn't… Crippled. However, Six got his point.

Luckily for the man, Six didn't have any plans on hurting the girl. Sure, the Courier looked like a big bad mercenary that would be willing to hurt them—and in part he was—but he had no reason to hurt them either. There was nothing to be gained from harming them and Joshua hadn't stooped down to killing children… Yet. Except for that one time in Vault 22, and that was more of a mercy killing.

"You don't have to worry about that, I don't have any intention of harming you or your daughter." Six felt good giving an honest answer to the older man. He had gotten used to lying a lot when he was in charge of the Strip. "She's also interesting to be around."

The crippled man chuckled, the mood lightening. "I'll say, she can definitely be "interesting." The grin that had graced the man's face slowly faltered as he continued, "she gets in trouble more than she should but that's not entirely her fault. Not many of the other kids play with her and she has to take on a lot of responsibly since…" Richter's words trailed off as he pointed down at his leg.

Six nodded his head to the older man's words. He could agree with that, the first time he met her was when she almost got devoured by Grimm. The Courier hadn't replaced any of his limbs and he didn't like the idea of losing any. He'd already lost several organs inside his body, he wasn't looking to become more machine.

"Speaking of," Six began as he remembered some of the events surrounding Carmine. He had noticed her behavior and the way everyone in the village acted around her. "Why does everyone treat her like an oddity?"

Six figured he wasn't going to like the answer as a frown graced the man's face. "A little over a year ago Grimm attacked our town, they come in all shapes and sizes, and there was one that was different from the others."

The bandaged man shifted his weight as he let the man continue. "It's still the worst Grimm attack we've had so far. The militia was busy manning the walls and I was trying to move weapons from my home to anyone who was willing to fight." Again, Six nodded his head, had an idea of where this was going.

"Blood was in the air, fires were threatening to burn the town down, and Grimm were closing in from all sides. A lot of us thought it was the end and I still don't know how this turn survived." Six processed Richter's words as an image of a town on fire and besieged by monsters entered his mind.

"There was one Grimm I'd never seen before. It wasn't big or strong and it was smaller than a Beowolf. The real problem was that it was cunning. It moved outside the militia's sight and moved from house to house." The older man paused and took a few calming breaths before continuing, "why fight armed men when it could get the defenseless families hiding in their homes?"

So that was it, a Grimm attack caused a lot of damage to a young girl. Six's thoughts continued to put the pieces together on how that affected the town's view on Carmine as he continued, "You could say that we were luckier than some. All the other families that the creature got to didn't have one survivor. In fact, we were the last family it found."

So, their family had been the only one that partially survived? It was interesting to learn about Grimm but this variant of Grimm could be interesting as well. "It surprised me while I was moving weapons out of the house. It knocked me down, tore my leg and arm apart, and was going to kill me." Six couldn't help but glance downward at his leg and arm for a moment before looking away.

"My wife Mara, was never going to let that happen. She picked up one of the weapons I had dropped and rushed it. The only reason I'm alive is because she did." Richter had to stop again to compose himself. It was obvious that this story hurt to tell. "It turned on her while I lay there screaming on the ground and…"

Six let the man pause one more time before cutting in, "I get the picture, you don't need to describe anymore. I assume some of the militia came in and rescued you?"

"That's about the sum of it. I barely survived my injuries that night and somehow survived the trip to the capital to get to a better hospital," Richter said before pointing down to his leg again. "Unfortunately, I don't have the resources for the new fancy prosthetics they've come out with."

There was a long pause before the older man finished, "that Grimm also blinded my poor girl in one eye."

Joshua was scratching the back of his neck now. It was a little awkward to be told all of this upfront. All of his older companions had taken time to form bonds and trust him enough to tell their story. Here this man was laying out probably the most traumatic event of his life in front of a near stranger.

"For a long while after, I was a hateful man. I drove away a lot of my neighbors and friends with how I acted. I didn't treat them well so they didn't treat me well." The local smith's eyes shifted to look out the window as he continued, "unfortunately Carmine picked up my attitude as well."

That girl had taken on a rude attitude? Six's brow raised in curiosity. That girl had been nothing but polite to him and nervous around anyone else. "It wasn't entirely her fault and I wasn't there to comfort her for a while."

A small smile graced Richter's lips as he continued, "kids can be mean but she could be meaner. She was often teased about her mother and missing eye but anyone that did so would get into a fight with her. She walked away from most fights upright while they didn't."

The smile disappeared as he sighed. "But she started going too far. My little Lake started hurting the other kids bad enough to leave permanent damage. Between my attitude and hers, we almost got thrown out of town." The older man's hand moved to his face before rubbing his eyes.

"I think her attitude changed because of one night. The other members of the town came to my house and gave me an ultimatum while my girl watched. Either I get my act and my girl's together or they throw my crippled behind to the Beowolves." Six watched as Richter swallowed hard obviously uncomfortable admitting his own mistakes.

There was a silence as Joshua understood why the town treated them strange. The man's eyes looked up towards Six as he said, "That made me realize that I had been wrong and I think Carmine also internalized a lot of the blame. She couldn't forgive herself for getting her father in trouble. We both changed our attitudes but people in this town are stubborn and slow to forgive."

At least Six understood why the town treated the young girl with a certain level of disdain. She was the black sheep of the town and even though she was trying to change her ways people weren't quick to forgive.

"Why did you share this with me, it has to be a touchy subject?" Six knew the question would come off as rude but he thought it made sense. He was a stranger that had just shown up today. Why would this old man share all this personal information with him?

The older man nodded his head and closed his eyes before responding, "because everyone in the town already knows. I'd prefer if you heard it from me than someone else."

Another silence fell over the two, this one longer as Richter sat waiting for Six to say something.

Six rubbed his chin as he responded, "thank you for sharing that with me. It's useful to know why everyone treats her differently. I often get that look as well but I'm not tied down to one place as you are. I hope they learn that you've changed as you've both been nothing but kind to me." Other than when Richter had threatened him but he was doing that to protect his daughter.

The older man visibly relaxed at Six's response as he replied, "thank you for the kind words. I like to think our hospitality is up to par."

"I can tell you that it is, I've gotten far better treatment here than a lot of other places." Six's response was true but everywhere he'd been to had been hit by nukes and that tended to make hospitality a secondary worry.

The Courier's eyes looked out the window and he could see the sun had just dipped over the horizon. "Carmine should be back any minute now," Six noted as he turned back to Richter.

The crippled man nodded his head before saying, "she will be. If not, I'll message her and at worst I'll send you out to get her."

"In that case, I'm going to get some sleep, wake me if she doesn't come back soon." Six left the conversation at that and proceeded to his room.

The story Richter told was interesting. He could understand that in his grief he had lashed out at others and it had even affected his also grieving daughter. He had failed as a father for some time. But who was he to judge? He had done far worse than either of them and for far less.

He entered the closet-like room before closing the door behind him. There wasn't a light in the room so the Courier used his Pip-Boy as a makeshift light as he sat down at the desk.

Six raised his hand as he materialized the Scroll he had been given earlier that day. He had plans for this thing. First, he'd learn all he could about this world Remnant. Then he'd backward engineer this Scroll before applying its functions to his Pip-Boy. Finally, he'd figure out what he needed to do next.

He was tempted to head directly back to his world but first he'd need to fix the Transportalponder. Besides, this world had an abundance of supplies that the Mojave needed. If he could form a connecting bridge between the two and managed to gather some resources from this world, that could greatly benefit the Mojave. Hell, maybe even his entire world.

He opened up an article about dust and its applications and began researching.

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading this chapter! I plan on continuing this story so don't worry I just upload sporadically. I also plan on updating Tales from Purgatory before I work on this one again.

I think I'll work it by doing one chapter for Tales from Purgatory then switching back to this one for a chapter. I'll continue switching until Tales from Purgatory is over as that one will be shorter than this story.

Anyways, thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it!